Never had to grind in Infinite Space. It's actually pretty easy and the strategy is not as deep as it appears to be, but I found its greatest strength to be the grand story and character development. I still haven't played a game that has what feels like a 20 hour introduction. I know most people just divide the game into two parts, but the first part seems to be there only to set up plot points and character introductions so that the second part can go all out in terms of plot and character development, twists, and strategic warfare. It really pulls no punches I didn't expect the payoff to be so satisfying.

To elaborate on this, it's not just typical HRRDRR BOOK BETTER THEY CHANGED STUFF IN MOVIE IT BAD, since the book and the movie were written at the same time, it's just that the book expanded on a lot of things. It's less cryptic, there's a little more depth to the characters... It's not drastically different but it has a lot of details the movie lacked, and it doesn't make the concessions for artsiness that the movie did.

« Last Edit: November 25, 2013, 08:19:31 PM by MeshGearFox »

Logged

o/` I do not feel joy o/`o/` I do not dream o/`o/` I only stare at the door and smoke o/`

I was gonna try to quote a bunch of stuff, but I'll just leave it at this: The various statements made in this thread, from 'TWEWY is not that great' to 'Tales of Symphonia is not the best Tales game' to '2001: A Space Odyssey is boring', and the fact that the people making such statements have been treated courteously and even lead to interesting discussion, reminds me why I come to this forum (and reminds me I should probably come around here more often instead of going to forums where I get flamed for making similar statements).

As for Infinite Space, I wanted to like that game, but it look forever to get going, battles were rediculously slow, and if I recall correctly, I hated the general lack of exploration, but still having to deal with random battles during missions. Probably one of my biggest disappointments as far as RPGs go...

Logged

“MY NAME IS POKEY THE PENGUIN I LOVE CHESS!! IT IS LIKE BALLET ONLY WITH MORE EXPLOSIONS!”I Draw Stuff Sometimes

As for Infinite Space, I wanted to like that game, but it look forever to get going, battles were rediculously slow, and if I recall correctly, I hated the general lack of exploration, but still having to deal with random battles during missions. Probably one of my biggest disappointments as far as RPGs go...

I'll admit you have to be very patient with it, but it rewards that patience that most games just leave hanging.

It's not drastically different but it has a lot of details the movie lacked, and it doesn't make the concessions for artsiness that the movie did.

Code for "you don't stare at a guy drifting in spaces for minutes on end" ergo book is better by default.

Oh that's definitely part of it. In the book he's basically going past huge fleets of abandoned ships belonging to long dead civilizations. It's super cool and it's obvious they did what they did in the movie because special effects at the time weren't up to snuff for /that/. But it pervades the rest of the novel as well. Like the intro with the monkeys is another big one.

Logged

o/` I do not feel joy o/`o/` I do not dream o/`o/` I only stare at the door and smoke o/`

It's not drastically different but it has a lot of details the movie lacked, and it doesn't make the concessions for artsiness that the movie did.

Code for "you don't stare at a guy drifting in spaces for minutes on end" ergo book is better by default.

Oh that's definitely part of it. In the book he's basically going past huge fleets of abandoned ships belonging to long dead civilizations. It's super cool and it's obvious they did what they did in the movie because special effects at the time weren't up to snuff for /that/. But it pervades the rest of the novel as well. Like the intro with the monkeys is another big one.

Yeah, the whole flying into Jupiter scene was very much a case of the technology at the time being woefully inadequate for what they were trying to depict. That said, White Room scene was clearly poor pacing though. And with that said, and in its defense, scenes like watching the co-pilot drift off into the endless space wouldn't have worked nearly as well if less time was shown of the guy just drifting out of view. That shit's downright scary in the same way as getting buried alive or falling down into something and being unable to get back up in terms of ways to die.

Getting back on topic a bit, this list is invalid because nobody considered The Great Cave Offensive from Kirby's SuperStar Ultra and that very much had battles inspired by RPGs.

I would stay away from a list of "best stories in an RPG" because that is SO subjective. Nobody could agree on anything. It would only invite controversy. The thread for that article would break 100 pages in 90 days.

I would stay away from a list of "best stories in an RPG" because that is SO subjective. Nobody could agree on anything. It would only invite controversy. The thread for that article would break 100 pages in 90 days.

...You should start on the article tomorrow.

Look all that has to be done is put Xenogears at number 1 and no one will care about the rest. Everyone can agree to that so there would be peace and harmony. *hides*